The problems associated with revision surgery.

This article highlights the issue related to revision surgery in spine and the possible implications in the next future. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Focal disorders of the spine with compensatory deformities: how to define them.

PURPOSE: In this paper, the authors propose classifying the epiphenomenon of spinal deformity in two different categories: structural deformity, when the main driver of the observed deformity is a fixed and stiff alteration of the spinal segments, and compensatory deformity, which includes cases where the observed deformity is due to focal abnormalities. This last category comprises, but is not limited to, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniation, infection or tumor, hip disease or neurological disease (such as Parkinson's disease). METHOD: Narrative review article. RESULTS: We analyzed the focal diseases of the spine that may cause a compensatory deformity inducing adaptation in the unaffected part of the spine. CONCLUSION: The compensatory mechanisms involved in adaptive deformity represent an attempt to maintain a global alignment, to escape from pain or to control body posture. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary material.

Total disc arthroplasty versus anterior cervical interbody fusion: use of the Spine Tango registry to supplement the evidence from randomized control trials.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared patient outcomes of anterior (cervical) interbody fusion (AIF) with those of total disc arthroplasty (TDA). Because RCTs have known limitations with regard to their external validity, the comparative effectiveness of the two therapies in daily practice remains unknown. PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare patient-reported outcomes after TDA versus AIF based on data from an international spine registry. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective analysis of registry data was carried out. PATIENT SAMPLE: Inclusion criteria were degenerative disc or disc herniation of the cervical spine treated by single-level TDA or AIF, no previous surgery, and a Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI) completed at baseline and at least 3 months' follow-up. Overall, 987 patients were identified. OUTCOME MEASURES: Neck and arm pain relief and COMI score improvement were the outcome measures. METHODS: Three separate analyses were performed to compare TDA and AIF surgical outcomes: (1) mimicking an RCT setting, with admission criteria typical of those in published RCTs, a 1:1 matched analysis was carried out in 739 patients; (2) an analysis was performed on 248 patients outside the classic RCT spectrum, that is, with one or more typical RCT exclusion criteria; (3) a subgroup analysis of all patients with additional follow-up longer than 2 years (n=149). RESULTS: Matching resulted in 190 pairs with an average follow-up of 17 months that had no residual significant differences for any patient characteristics. Small but statistically significant differences in outcome were observed in favor of TDA, which are potentially clinically relevant. Subgroup analyses of atypical patients and of patients with longer-term follow-up showed no significant differences in outcome between the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this observational study were in accordance with those of the published RCTs, suggesting substantial pain reduction both after AIF and TDA, with slightly greater benefit after arthroplasty. The analysis of atypical patients suggested that, in patients outside the spectrum of clinical trials, both surgical interventions appeared to work to a similar extent to that shown for the cohort in the matched study. Also, in the longer-term perspective, both therapies resulted in similar benefits to the patients.

Outcome of hemivertebra resection in congenital thoracolumbar kyphosis and scoliosis by posterior approach.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the long term outcome of deformity correction by hemivertebra resection in congenital thoracolumbar spinal deformities by a single posterior approach. METHODS: This is a retrospective study carried out at the Department of Spine Surgery, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from April 2006 to April 2013. All operated patients having single level hemivertebrae of thoracolumbar spine with at least two years follow up were included. Data was analyzed using SPSS ver. 17. RESULTS: There were 24 patients with mean age of 17 years (SD=8.41). Male to female ratio was 9(37.5%): 15(62.5%). Mean operation time was 4.23 hours (SD=1.2). Mean blood loss was 787 ml (SD=479). Mean follow up was for 5 years and 7 months (SD=30 months). Mean pre-op scoliosis was 51 degrees (SD=22), which improved to 20 degrees (SD=15) on last follow up (61% improvement). Mean pre-op kyphosis was 42 degrees (SD=35), which improved to 13 degrees (SD=15) on last follow up (69% improvement). Mean pre-op sagittal shift was 22mm (SD=24.9), which improved to 6mm (SD=9.37) on last follow up (73% improvement). Mean pre-op coronal shift was 34mm (SD=27.1), which improved to 8mm (SD=8.58) on last follow up (76% improvement). Five patients had complications. One proximal junctional kyphosis, one implant failure, one transient deficit and two wound infections. CONCLUSIONS: Posterior resection of hemivertebrae for congenital thoracolumbar deformities gives excellent correction of deformity in experienced hands and has acceptable complication rate.

Pedicle subtraction osteotomies (PSO) in the lumbar spine for sagittal deformities.

INTRODUCTION: The narrow correlation between sagittal alignment parameters and clinical outcomes has been widely established, demonstrating that improper sagittal alignment is a clinical condition that is associated with increased pain and limitations in patients' functional ability. INDICATION: Lumbar pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) is indicated in the treatment of large sagittal (more than 25° of rigid loss of lordosis) deformities of the lumbar spine or its combination with coronal deformity, especially when they are rigid. Indication should be based on careful assessment of the severity of symptoms, functional impairment, functional expectations of the patient, general clinical condition and surgical and anesthesiological team experience. Risk should be carefully assessed and discussed to obtain appropriate informed consent. SURGICAL PROCEDURE: Surgical planning includes selection of the safest levels for the upper and lower instrumented vertebra, site of the osteotomy, modality of fixation, and, most importantly angular value of the correction goal (target lumbar lordosis). Failure to adequately obtain the necessary amount of sagittal correction is the most frequent cause of failure and reoperation. CONCLUSION: PSO is a valuable surgical procedure in correction of severe hypolordosis (=relative kyphosis) in the lumbar spine. It is a demanding procedure for the surgeon, the anesthesiologist and the intensive care team. Although its complication rate is high, it has a substantial positive impact in the quality of life of patients, including the elderly.

Pedicle screw instrumentation and spinal deformities: have we gone too far?

INTRODUCTION: Placement of pedicle screws within the thoracic and lumbar spine has become the "state of the art" for the treatment of spinal deformities. Newly trained surgeons are often trained only with the placement of pedicle screws within the thoracic and lumbar spine and not with hooks or other means of fixation. However, if the benefits of pedicle screw instrumentation in terms of correction ability cannot be questioned on some issues pertaining to their safety, their rationale for all situations as well as their long-term adverse consequence and or early or late complications start to arise. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We therefore present four case examples that illustrate the advantages, questions and complications inherent to pedicle screw instrumentation in spinal deformities. These four cases serve as discussion supported by a review of the literature. The literature search was performed to include pedicle screws associated risks, costs and complications. Articles focusing on instrumentation of the thoracic and lumbar spine for the treatment of adult and pediatric scoliosis were reviewed. RESULTS: Pedicle screw instrumentation in the treatment of spinal deformity is here to stay, however a fair number of issues have come up since their widespread use that started 10 years ago: these include their misplacement with the inherent risks to the vascular or neurologic structures, the rate of misplaced pedicle screw not per number of screws inserted, but per patient operated, the number of screws really necessary to achieve a satisfactory outcome while maintaining costs, their contraindications in some very challenging deformities where the risks clearly outweigh their advantage compared to hooks. At last, the use of pedicle screw instrumentation has driven many centers in increasing the safety of such procedures using intraoperative spinal cord monitoring as well as improved imaging technologies. CONCLUSION: To answer our provocative title "Pedicle screw instrumentation have we gone too far?" Definitively we can answer that for some spinal deformities instrumented with all-pedicle-screw instrumentation, we have observed cases where the surgeons have gone way too far; in other cases, where such instrumentation was used in a comprehensive and rational manner, the answer to "Have we gone too far" is no, and such use of pedicle screw has improved outcome with minimum complications.

Surgical management of contiguous multilevel thoracolumbar tuberculous spondylitis.

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculous spondylitis (TBS) is the most common form of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. The mainstay of TBS management is anti-tuberculous chemotherapy. Most of the patients with TBS are treated conservatively; however in some patients surgery is indicated. Most common indications for surgery include neurological deficit, deformity, instability, large abscesses and necrotic tissue mass or inadequate response to anti-tuberculous chemotherapy. The most common form of TBS involves a single motion segment of spine (two adjoining vertebrae and their intervening disc). Sometimes TBS involves more than two adjoining vertebrae, when it is called multilevel TBS. Indications for correct surgical management of multilevel TBS is not clear from literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have retrospectively reviewed 87 patients operated in 10 years for multilevel TBS involving the thoracolumbar spine at our spine unit. Two types of surgeries were performed on these patients. In 57 patients, modified Hong Kong operation was performed with radical debridement, strut grafting and anterior instrumentation. In 30 patients this operation was combined with pedicle screw fixation with or without correction of kyphosis by osteotomy. Patients were followed up for correction of kyphosis, improvement in neurological deficit, pain and function. Complications were noted. On long-term follow-up (average 64 months), there was 9.34 % improvement in kyphosis angle in the modified Hong Kong group and 47.58 % improvement in the group with pedicle screw fixation and osteotomy in addition to anterior surgery (p < 0.001). Seven patients had implant failures and revision surgeries in the modified Hong Kong group. Neurological improvement, pain relief and functional outcome were the same in both groups. CONCLUSION: We conclude that pedicle screw fixation with or without a correcting osteotomy should be added in all patients with multilevel thoracolumbar tuberculous spondylitis undergoing radical debridement and anterior column reconstruction.

Tuberculosis of the craniovertebral junction.

PURPOSE: Tuberculosis (TB) of craniovertebral junction (CVJ) occurs in 1-5 % of cases of TB spondylitis. This can be a life-threatening condition due to mass effect of infective process or resultant instability. Surgical indications for TB of CVJ are not clear from literature. METHODS: We have reviewed all the patients with TB of CVJ admitted at our center between 2005 and 2010. RESULTS: There were 15 patients including 10 males and 5 females. Average age was 38 years and average duration of symptoms was 8 months. All patients were started on multidrug antituberculous chemotherapy and skull traction. Those patients who failed to respond in 4-6 weeks and had persistent instability or neurological deficit were offered surgery. Rest was treated conservatively by immobilisation or traction. All five patients who were surgically treated had occipitocervical fusion (OCF) with titanium screws and plate/rod construct combined with posterior decompression if needed. Only one patient needed anterior surgery in addition to OCF at a later stage. All patients improved neurologically whether they were treated surgically or conservatively. Only difference was that surgically treated patients had earlier pain relief, mobilisation, neurological improvement and lesser complications. CONCLUSION: We recommend that all patients with TB of CVJ with instability and neurological compromise, who fail to respond to 4-6 weeks of antituberculous chemotherapy and skull traction should be offered occipitocervical fusion with or without posterior decompression. Anterior surgery will be needed only in those few cases who do not improve neurologically after OCF.

Posterior lumbar spinal fusion and instrumentation in morbidly obese patients using the Synframe retractor system: technical note.

PURPOSE: Lumbar spine surgery in morbidly obese patients is a challenge to the operating surgeon. The aim of the study was to evaluate the surgical experience in this group of patients using the Synframe retractor system (Synthes, Paoli, PA, USA) as a tool for improved surgical access. METHODS: An Institutional Review Board approved retrospective study was conducted on 43 morbidly obese patients undergoing posterior lumbar decompression instrumentation and fusion. Patient selection was based on a BMI of >40. Information acquired included BMI, set up time, procedure time, ASA, intraoperative blood loss and the number of preoperative co-morbidities of each patient. Postoperative complications, length of stay, and pre-operative and postoperative Oswestry disability index (ODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS) were recorded at each postoperative visit. They were compared to 45 age matched controls from our spine database. RESULTS: The average set-up time (73.5 min), amount of blood loss (average 1,040 mL), length of incision (10.3-14.5 cm) and length of hospital stay (5.4 days) were recorded. The average surgical time was dependent on the procedure and number of levels fused and ranged from 164 to 245 min. These parameters were compared with normal weight patients and noted to be higher. CONCLUSION: The surgical experience determined that the Synframe retractor system provided a stable and well-illuminated operative field. It minimized the number of personnel required for assistance and improved surgical access. As may be expected, all the above recorded parameters were greater in the morbidly obese group.

Surgical treatment of upper, middle and lower cervical injuries and non-unions by anterior procedures.

The goals of any treatment of cervical spine injuries are: return to maximum functional ability, minimum of residual pain, decrease of any neurological deficit, minimum of residual deformity and prevention of further disability. The advantages of surgical treatment are the ability to reach optimal reduction, immediate stability, direct decompression of the cord and the exiting roots, the need for only minimum external fixation, the possibility for early mobilisation and clearly decreased nursing problems. There are some reasons why those goals can be reached better by anterior surgery. Usually the bony compression of the cord and roots comes from the front therefore anterior decompression is usually the procedure of choice. Also, the anterior stabilisation with a plate is usually simpler than a posterior instrumentation. It needs to be stressed that closed reduction by traction can align the fractured spine and indirectly decompress the neural structures in about 70%. The necessary weight is 2.5 kg per level of injury. In the upper cervical spine, the odontoid fracture type 2 is an indication for anterior surgery by direct screw fixation. Joint C1/C2 dislocations or fractures or certain odontoid fractures can be treated with a fusion of the C1/C2 joint by anterior transarticular screw fixation. In the lower and middle cervical spine, anterior plating combined with iliac crest or fibular strut graft is the procedure of choice, however, a solid graft can also be replaced by filled solid or expandable vertebral cages. The complication of this surgery is low, when properly executed and anterior surgery may only be contra-indicated in case of a significant lesion or locked joints.

Os-odontoideum leading to atlanto-axial instability--report of surgery in four cases.

Os odontoideum can lead to atlantoaxial instability, which can be either reducible or a fixed dislocation. We present surgical management in four patients with os odontoideum at our center. Two of these had reducible dislocations and were managed by posterior transarticular screw fixation. Other two had fixed dislocations necessitating posterior decompression and occipitocervical fixation.

The international spine registry SPINE TANGO: status quo and first results.

With an official life time of over 5 years, Spine Tango can meanwhile be considered the first international spine registry. In this paper we present an overview of frequency statistics of Spine Tango for demonstrating the genesis of questionnaire development and the constantly increasing activity in the registry. Results from two exemplar studies serve for showing concepts of data analysis applied to a spine registry. Between 2002 and 2006, about 6,000 datasets were submitted by 25 centres. Descriptive analyses were performed for demographic, surgical and follow-up data of three generations of the Spine Tango surgery and follow-up forms. The two exemplar studies used multiple linear regression models to identify potential predictor variables for the occurrence of dura lesions in posterior spinal fusion, and to evaluate which covariates influenced the length of hospital stay. Over the study period there was a rise in median patient age from 52.3 to 58.6 years in the Spine Tango data pool and an increasing percentage of degenerative diseases as main pathology from 59.9 to 71.4%. Posterior decompression was the most frequent surgical measure. About one-third of all patients had documented follow-ups. The complication rate remained below 10%. The exemplar studies identified "centre of intervention" and "number of segments of fusion" as predictors of the occurrence of dura lesions in posterior spinal fusion surgery. Length of hospital stay among patients with posterior fusion was significantly influenced by "centre of intervention", "surgeon credentials", "number of segments of fusion", "age group" and "sex". Data analysis from Spine Tango is possible but complicated by the incompatibility of questionnaire generations 1 and 2 with the more recent generation 3. Although descriptive and also analytic studies at evidence level 2++ can be performed, findings cannot yet be generalised to any specific country or patient population. Current limitations of Spine Tango include the low number and short duration of follow-ups and the lack of sufficiently detailed patient data on subgroup levels. Although the number of participants is steadily growing, no country is yet represented with a sufficient number of hospitals. Nevertheless, the benefits of the project for the whole spine community become increasingly visible.